Synthetic decorative grass simulating spanish moss and method for making same

ABSTRACT

Curled decorative grasses and methods for producing same are disclosed wherein the curled decorative grasses have improved bulk and simulate Spanish moss in color and appearance.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/180,715, filedJun. 25, 2002, entitled “SYNTHETIC DECORATIVE GRASS SIMULATING SPANISHMOSS AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME,” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,605,170; which isa continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/847,831, filed May 2, 2001, entitled“SYNTHETIC DECORATIVE GRASS SIMULATING SPANISH MOSS AND METHOD FORMAKING SAME,” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,196 which is a continuation ofU.S. Ser. No. 09/338,249, filed Jun. 22, 1999, entitled “SYNTHETICDECORATIVE GRASS SIMULATING SPANISH MOSS AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME,”now abandoned; which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) ofprovisional application U.S. Ser. No. 60/092,150, filed Jul. 9, 1998,entitled “SYNTHETIC DECORATIVE GRASS ASSIMILATING SPANISH MOSS ANDMETHOD FOR MAKING SAME,” the contents of which are hereby expresslyincorporated in their entirety by reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to decorative grass and methodsfor producing same, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation,to curled, intertwined decorative grass simulating Spanish moss andmethods for producing same.

2. Brief Description of Prior Art

Spanish moss is an epiphytic of the pineapple family which forms pendenttufts of grayish green filaments on trees from the southern UnitedStates of America to Argentina. Spanish moss, when dried has heretoforebeen used as decorative material as well as a packing material. However,Spanish moss is expensive and Spanish moss often contains undesirableamounts of chaff and dust.

Synthetic decorative grass has been used for many years in Easterbaskets and for other decorative purposes. The synthetic decorativegrass of the prior art has been produced by numerous methods and from avariety of materials such as polymeric materials, paper, cellophane orthe like. Typically, such materials are cut and shredded to producesegments having predetermined dimensions. One such prior art method formaking decorative grass is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,266, issuedto Weder, et al., wherein a plastic film is extruded and cut intoplastic strips which are passed through a slow-speed godet, an oven anda high-speed godet so that the strips are drawn down in width andthickness without breaking. From the high-speed godet, the strips orstrands are chopped to a desired length and conveyed to a storage areafor subsequent bagging and packaging.

While the prior art methods for making decorative grass have been widelyaccepted, new and improved methods for making decorative grasses havingimproved bulk and aesthetic qualities, such as simulating the appearanceof Spanish moss, are being sought which are less costly. It is to suchdecorative grasses and methods for producing same that the presentinvention is directed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to curled, intertwined decorative grasseshaving improved bulk and which simulate the appearance of Spanish moss.In one aspect, the present invention relates to methods for makingdecorative grasses which simulate, in appearance and color, Spanishmoss. Because of the reduced amount of chaff and dust present in thecurled decorative grasses simulating the appearance of Spanish moss madein accordance with the present invention, as well as the increased bulkof such curled decorative grasses, such decorative grasses can be usedas decorative materials, as a filler for Easter baskets, i.e. Eastergrass, as well as for animal bedding, cat litter, mulch for soil andmedia for plants.

The curled decorative grasses having improved bulk and which simulatethe appearance of Spanish moss are produced by imparting a curl to a webor sheet of material having a color simulating the color of Spanish moss(i.e. grayish green) and thereafter cutting the curled web or sheet ofmaterial into stands of material which are intertwined and simulateSpanish moss in appearance.

The web or sheet of material can be formed of any material capable ofbeing curled and dyed to a color simulating the color of spanish moss.Examples of materials which can be used as the web or sheet of materialin the production of curled, intertwined decorative grasses whichsimulate Spanish moss in appearance are paper and laminates, such aslaminates made of at least two polymeric films, or laminates made ofpolymeric film and paper, or laminates made of metal foil and apolymeric film or paper.

An object of the present invention is to provide curled decorativegrasses which simulate the appearance of Spanish moss.

Another object of the present invention, while achieving thebefore-stated object, is to provide curled decorative grasses whichsimulate the appearance of Spanish moss and which have improved bulk.

Yet another object of the present invention, while achieving thebefore-stated objects, is to provide methods for producing curleddecorative grasses simulating the appearance of Spanish moss which arecost effective.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a system for making a curleddecorative grass simulating Spanish moss from a laminated web ofmaterial in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of another system for making acurled decorative grass simulating Spanish moss from a laminated web ofmaterial in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a first web of material and a second webof material employed to produce the laminated web of material of FIG. 2,the first web of material being shorter in length than the second web ofmaterial.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the first and second webs of material ofFIG. 3 wherein the first web of material is stretched prior tolaminating the first and second webs of material so that a curl isimparted to the laminated web of material.

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a system for making a curleddecorative grass simulating Spanish moss from a web of paper inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a pictorial representation of curled decorative grasssimulating Spanish moss prepared in accordance with the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a system10 for making curled decorative grass 12 simulating Spanish moss inaccordance with the present invention. That is, the curled decorativegrass 12 has an intertwined configuration and a color (i.e. grayishgreen) which provides the curled, intertwined decorative grass with anappearance simulating Spanish moss (see FIG. 6). Thus, the curleddecorative grass 12 is especially suited for use as a decoratingmaterial in place of Spanish moss, and as a decorative grass in Easterbaskets, or as packing material, animal bedding, cat litter, mulch forsoil and media for plants.

The system 10 includes a roll of material 14 which consists of asubstantially flat web of laminated material 16 capable of having a curlimparted thereto. The laminated material 16, which is dyed or colored tohave a grayish green color substantially corresponding to the color ofSpanish moss, can be formed by laminating a first web of material 18 toa second web of material 20 by any method known in the art.

Any ink or dye capable of imparting the desired grayish green color tothe laminated material 16 or the first and/or second webs of material 18and 20 so that the laminated material 16 is provided with a grayishgreen color simulating the color of Spanish moss can be employed as thedye or ink in the practice of the present invention. Such inks and dyesare commercially available and well known in the art. An example of anink which may be applied to the laminated material 16 or the firstand/or second webs of material 18 and 20 so that the laminated material16 is provided with a grayish green color simulating the color ofSpanish moss is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,706 entitled “WaterBased Ink On Foil And/Or Synthetic Organic Polymer” issued to Kingman onSep. 15, 1992 and which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Inaddition, if a bonding material is used to laminate the first and secondwebs of material 18 and 20 together, the bonding material may also betinted or colored by using a dye, pigment, or ink having a grayish greencolor simulating the color of Spanish moss.

The roll of material 14 is supported on a mandrel 22 having a brakeassembly 24 operably connected thereto so that the web of laminatedmaterial 16 can be controllably withdrawn from the roll of material 12.The web of laminated material 16 withdrawn from the roll of material 12is drawn over a curling edge 26 of a curl bar 28 so as to provide acurled web of laminated material 30.

The curling edge 26 of the curl bar 28 is angularly disposed relative tothe travel path of the web of laminated material 16 so that as the webof laminated material 16 is drawn over the curling edge 26 of the curlbar 28, the curled web of laminated material 30 is produced. The angulardisposition of the curling edge 26 of the curl bar 28 relative to theweb of laminated material 16 can vary widely and will be dependent to alarge degree on the amount and type of curl to be imparted to the web oflaminated material 16, as well as to the curling properties of the firstand second webs of material 18 and 20 or the web of laminated material16. Generally, however, the curling edge 26 of the curl bar 28 will bedisposed at an angle of from about 15 degrees to about 180 degreesrelative to the direction of travel of the web of laminated material 16.

To maintain the desired tension on the web of laminated material 16 asthe web of laminated material 16 is drawn over the curling edge 26 ofthe curl bar 28, the system 10 may further include a pair of tension ornip rollers 32 and 33 positioned upstream of the curl bar 26 and a pairof tension or nip rollers 34 and 35 positioned downstream of the curlbar 28 to ensure proper tension on the web of laminated material 16, aswell as angular disposition of the web of material laminated 16, as theweb of laminated material 16 is drawn over the curling edge 26 of thecurl bar 28. The curled web of laminated material 30, upon passagethrough the tension rollers 32 and 34, is fed into a slitter or shredderunit 36 where the curled web of laminated material 30 is slit to providea slit web of curled laminated material 37 having a plurality of curledstrips of predetermined width.

The slitting of the curled web of laminated material 30 to produce theslit web of curled laminated material 37 having a plurality of curledstrips of predetermined width can be accomplished using any well knownmethod and device. Such common methods of slitting the curled web oflaminated material 30 include: (a) slitting the curled web of laminatedmaterial 30 to produce side-by-side strips of material wherein thelonger dimension of the strips is in the direction of travel of thecurled web of laminated material 30, i.e. the machine direction; or (b)slitting the curled web of laminated material 30 so that the longerdimension of the strips of material are oblique to the direction oftravel of the curled web of laminated material 30, i.e. obliquely to themachine direction.

The slit web of curled laminated material 37 is then passed through acutting unit 38 where the curled strips of the slit web of curledlaminated material 37 are cut into segments to form the curleddecorative grass 12 which, in cluster form, simulates Spanish moss inappearance.

Any conventional device and method can be employed as the slitter orshredder unit 36 for slitting of the curled web of laminated material 30to produce the slit web of curled laminated material 37 and for cuttingthe curled strips of the slit web of curled laminated material 37 toform the curled decorative grass 12 simulating Spanish moss. Examples ofconventional devices which can be used as the slitter or shredder unit36 and/or as the cutting unit 38 are rotary knives, reciprocatingknives, die cutting, laser cutting, water jet cutting, air jet cuttingand the like.

The curled decorative grass 12 simulating Spanish moss produced bycutting the slit web of curled laminated material 37 can then beconveyed to a storage area (not shown) which may be in the form of asuitable bin, or the curled decorative grass 12 simulating Spanish mossmay be conveyed to a packaging machine, or the curled decorative grass12 simulating Spanish moss may be conveyed to a baling machine forbaling prior to storage. As other alternatives, the curled decorativegrass 12 simulating Spanish moss may be placed into boxes or cartons,subjected to further processing immediately or held for subsequentprocessing.

Any material capable of having a curl imparted thereto and which can bedyed or colored can be employed as the first web of material 18 andsecond web of material 20. However, desirable results can be achievedwherein the first web of material 18 is paper and the second web ofmaterial 20 is a polymeric film; or wherein the first and second webs ofmaterial 18 and 20 are each made of a polymeric film, or wherein thefirst web of material 18 is a polymeric film or paper and the second webof material 20 is a metal foil.

The first web of material 18 and the second web of material 20 can beconstructed of any material capable of having a curl imparted thereto sothat the laminated web of material 16 produced by lamination of thefirst and second webs 18 and 20 is capable of having a curl impartedthereto. The first web of material 18 can be constructed of either atransparent polymeric material which permits the color of the second webof material 20 to be viewed through the first web of material 18, or apolymeric material which can be dyed or colored so that the laminatedweb of material 16 simulates the color of Spanish moss, or paper; andthe second web of material 20 can be constructed of a polymeric materialor metal foil which can be dyed or colored so that the laminated web ofmaterial 16 simulates the color of Spanish moss.

The first web of material 18 will generally have a thickness in a rangefrom about 0.1 mils to about 10 mils, and more desirably in a range offrom about 0.4 mils to about 0.9 mils; and the second web of material 20will generally have a thickness in a range from about 0.1 mils to about10 mils, and more desirably in a range of from about 0.4 mils to about0.9 mils. Further, the first and/or second webs of material 18 and 20may be constructed of a single layer of material or a laminated materialcontaining a plurality of layers of the same or different types ofmaterials as long as the web of laminated material 16 can have thedesired curl imparted to it.

FIG. 2 illustrates schematically another system 40 for making a curleddecorative grass 42 simulating Spanish moss from a roll of material 43which consists of a substantially flat web of laminated material 44which has a preset curl formed therein. The laminated material 44 isdyed or colored to have a grayish color substantially corresponding tothe color of Spanish moss. The web of laminated material 44 (only asegment being shown in FIG. 3) is provided with a preset curl formedduring lamination of a first web of material 46 to a second web ofmaterial 48 to produce the web of laminated material 44.

Referring now to FIG. 4 in combination with FIGS. 2 and 3, the presetcurl is provided in the web of laminated material 44 by stretching atleast one of the webs of material, such as the first web of material 46,and maintaining the first web of material 46 in a stretched conditionduring lamination of the first web of material 46 to the second web ofmaterial 48. That is, as depicted in FIG. 4, the first web of material46 is provided with a length 50 which is less than a length 52 of thesecond web of material 48. It should be understood, however, that thefirst web of material 46 could be provided with a width 54 which isdifferent than a width 56 of the second web of material 48; or thelength 50 and the width 54 of the first web of material 46 could be of adifferent dimension than the length 52 and the width 56 of the secondweb of material 48.

As shown in FIG. 4, the first web of material 46 is disposed adjacentthe second web of material 48. The first web of material 46 is thenstretched in direction 60 (FIG. 4) a predetermined amount required toproduce the desired curl in the web of laminated material 44 when thestretch first web of material 46 is laminated to the second web ofmaterial 48.

With the first web of material 46 in the stretched condition andsubstantially aligned with the second web of material 48, the first andsecond webs of material 46 and 48 are then laminated together by anymethod known in the art. By laminating the first web of material 46 tothe second web of material 48 while the first web of material 46 is inthe stretched condition, the first web of material 46 creates a recoiltension wherein the first web of material 46 tends to return to itsoriginal length which results in a preset curl being formed in the webof laminated material 44 substantially as shown in FIG. 3.

Any ink or dye capable of imparting the desired grayish green color tothe web of laminated material 44 or the first and/or second webs ofmaterial 46 and 48 so that the web of laminated material 44 is providedwith a grayish green color simulating the color of Spanish moss can beemployed as the dye or ink in the practice of the present invention.Such inks and dyes are commercially available and well known in the art.An example of an ink which may be applied to the surface of the web oflaminated material 44 or the first and/or second webs of material 46 and48 so that the web of laminated material 16 is provided with a grayishcolor simulating the color of Spanish moss is described in U.S. Pat. No.5,147,706 entitled “Water Based Ink On Foil And/Or Synthetic OrganicPolymer” issued to Kingman on Sep. 15, 1992 and which is herebyincorporated herein by reference. In addition, the bonding material usedto laminate the first and second webs of material 46 and 48 together mayalso be tinted or colored by using a dye, pigment, or ink having agrayish green color simulating the color of Spanish moss.

The first web of material 46 can be constructed of any material whichcan be stretch and laminated to the second web of material 48 so as toimpart a curl to the laminated web of material 44. Further, the firstweb of material 44 is constructed of either a transparent polymericmaterial which permits the color of the second web of material 48 to beviewed through the first web of material 44, or a material which can bedyed-or colored so that the laminated web of material 44 simulates thecolor of Spanish moss. However, desirable results can be achievedwherein the first web of material 46 is a polymeric film and the secondweb of material 48 is paper; or wherein the first and second webs ofmaterial 46 and 48 are each made of a polymeric film; or where the firstweb of material 46 is a polymeric film and the second web of material 48is a metal foil.

The first web of material 46 will generally have a thickness in a rangefrom about 0.1 mils to about 10 mils, and more desirably in a range offrom about 0.4 mils to about 0.9 mils; and the second web of material 48will generally have a thickness in a range from about 0.1 mils to about10 mils, and more desirably in a range of from about 0.4 mils to about0.9 mils. Further, the first and/or second webs of material 46 and 48may be constructed of a single layer of material or a laminated materialcontaining a plurality of layers of the same or different types ofmaterials as long as the web of laminated material 44 is provided with apreset curl.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the roll of material 43 is supported on amandrel 50 having a brake assembly 52 operably connected thereto so thatthe web of laminated material 44 having a preset curl can becontrollably withdrawn from the roll of material 43. The web oflaminated material 44 having a preset curl is passed through a pair oftension or nip rollers 54 and 56 and into a slitter or shredder unit 62where the web of laminated material 44 having a preset curl is slit toprovide a slit web of curled laminated material 64 having a plurality ofcurled strips of predetermined width. The slitting of the web oflaminated material 44 having a preset curl to produce the slit web ofcurled laminated material 64 having a plurality of curled strips ofpredetermined width can be accomplished using any well known method anddevice. Such common methods of slitting the web of laminated material 44having a preset curl include: (a) slitting the web of laminated material44 having a preset curl to produce side-by-side strips of materialwherein the longer dimension of the strips is in the direction of travelof the web of laminated material 44 having a preset curl, i.e. themachine direction; or (b) slitting the web of laminated material 44having a preset curl so that the longer dimension of the strips ofmaterial are oblique to the direction of travel of the web of laminatedmaterial 44 having a preset curl, i.e. obliquely to the machinedirection.

The slit web of curled laminated material 64 is then passed through acutting unit 66 where the curled strips of the slit web of curledlaminated material 64 are cut into segments to form the curleddecorative grass 42 simulating Spanish moss.

Any conventional device and method can be employed as the slitter orshredder unit 62 for slitting of the web of laminated material 44 havinga preset curl to produce the curled strips of the slit web of curledlaminated material 64 and for cutting the curled strips of the slit webof curled laminated material 64 to form the curled decorative grass 42simulating Spanish moss. Examples of conventional devices which can beused as the slitter or shredder unit 62 and/or as the cutting unit 66are rotary knives, reciprocating knives, die cutting, laser cutting,water jet cutting, air jet cutting and the like. Examples of suchconventional devices and methods which can be employed to cut the slitweb of curled laminated material 64 are rotary knives, reciprocatingknives, die cutting, laser cutting, water jet cutting, air jet cuttingand the like.

The curled decorative grass 42 simulating Spanish moss produced bycutting the slit web of curled laminated material 64 can then beconveyed to a storage area (not shown) which may be in the form of asuitable bin, or the curled decorative grass 42 simulating Spanish mossmay be conveyed to a packaging machine, or the curled decorative grass42 simulating Spanish moss may be conveyed to a baling machine forbaling prior to storage. As other alternatives, the curled decorativegrass 42 simulating Spanish moss may be placed into boxes or cartons,subjected to further processing immediately or held for subsequentprocessing.

FIG. 5 illustrates schematically another system 70 for making a curleddecorative grass 72 simulating Spanish moss from a roll of material 74which consists of a substantially flat web of paper, polymeric film, ormetal foil 76 capable of having a curl set therein. The paper caninclude additives, such as shape-sustaining agents, water-proofingagents, anti-static agents and the like as long as the paper containingsuch agents can be curled and used to produce the curled decorativegrass 72 which is intertwined and simulates Spanish moss in appearance.Similarly, the polymeric film can be any commercially availablepolymeric film which can be curled and used to produce the curleddecorative grass 72 which is intertwined and simulates Spanish moss inappearance. An example of a commercially available polymeric film which,when dyed to the desired grayish green color simulating the color ofSpanish moss, can be used to produce the curled decorative grass 72 isVifan BT medium slip biaxially oriented polypropylene film which isavailable from Vifan Canada, Inc., Vifan street, Lanoraie d'Autray,Quebec, Canada JOK 1EO, Another example of a commercially availablepolymeric film which, when dyed to the desired grayish green colorsimulating the color of Spanish moss, can be used to produce the curleddecorative grass 72 is Hercules B523 oriented polypropylene packagingfilm which is available from Hercules Incorporated, Hercules Plaza,Wilmington, Del. 19894.

The paper, polymeric material, or metal foil is dyed or colored to havea grayish green color substantially corresponding to the color ofSpanish moss. Any ink or dye capable of imparting the desired grayishgreen color simulating the color of Spanish moss can be employed as thedye or ink for the paper, polymeric film or metal foil. Such inks anddyes are commercially available and well known in the art. An example ofan ink which may be applied to the paper or polymeric film or metal foilso that the web of material 76 is provided with a grayish green colorsimulating the color of Spanish moss is described in U.S. Pat. No.5,147,706 entitled “Water Based Ink On Foil And/Or Synthetic OrganicPolymer” issued to Kingman on Sep. 15, 1992, and which is herebyincorporated herein by reference.

The thickness of the web of material 76 employed to produce the curleddecorative grass 72 simulating the appearance of Spanish moss can varywidely. Generally however, the web of material 76 will have a thicknessin the range of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mils, and more desirablyfrom about 0.1 mil to about 10 mils.

The roll of material 74 is supported on a mandrel 78 having a brakeassembly 80 operably connected thereto so that the web of material 76can be controllably withdrawn from the roll of material 74. The web ofmaterial 76 withdrawn from the roll of material 74 is drawn over acurling edge 82 of a curl bar 84 so as to provide a curled web ofmaterial 86.

The curling edge 82 of the curl bar 84 is angularly disposed relative tothe travel path of the web of material 76 so that as the web of material76 is drawn over the curling edge 82 of the curl bar 84, the curled webof material 86 is produced. The angular disposition of the curling edge82 of the curl bar 84 relative to the direction of travel of the web ofmaterial 76 over the curling edge 82 of the curl bar 84 can vary widelyand will be dependent to a large degree on the amount and type of curlto be imparted to the web of material 76, as well as to the curlingproperties of the web of material 76. Generally, however, the curlingedge 82 of the curl bar 84 will be disposed at an angle of from about 15degrees to about 180 degrees relative to the direction of travel of theweb of material 76.

To maintain the desired tension on the web of material 76 as the web ofmaterial 76 is drawn over the curling edge 82 of the curl bar 84, thesystem 70 may further include a pair of tension or nip rollers 88 and 90positioned upstream of the curl bar 84 and a pair of tension or niprollers 92 and 94 positioned downstream of the curl bar 84 to ensureproper tension on the web of material 76, as well as angular dispositionof the web of material 76, as the web of material 76 is drawn over thecurling edge 82 of the curl bar 84. The curled web of material 86, uponpassage through the tension rollers 92 and 94, is fed into a slitter orshredder unit 96 where the curled web of material 86 is slit to providea slit web of curled material 98 having a plurality of curled strips ofpredetermined width.

The slitting of the curled web of material 86 to produce the slit web ofcurled material 98 having a plurality of curled strips of predeterminedwidth can be accomplished using any well known method and device. Suchcommon methods of slitting the curled web of material 86 include: (a)slitting the curled web of material 86 to produce side-by-side strips ofmaterial wherein the longer dimension of the strips is in the directionof travel of the curled web of material 86, i.e. the machine direction;or (b) slitting the curled web of material 86 so that the longerdimension of the strips of material are oblique to the direction oftravel of the curled web of material 86, i.e. obliquely to the machinedirection.

The slit web of curled material 98 is then passed through a cutting unit100 where the curled strips of the slit web of curled material 98 arecut into segments to form the curled decorative grass 72 which, incluster form, simulates Spanish moss.

Any conventional device and method can be employed as the slitter orshredder unit 96 for slitting of the curled web of paper or polymericfilm 86 to produce the slit web of curled paper or polymeric film 98 andfor cutting the curled strips of the slit web of curled paper orpolymeric film 98 to form the curled decorative grass 72 assimilatingSpanish moss. Examples of conventional devices which can be used as theslitter or shredder unit 96 and/or as the cutting unit 100 are rotaryknives, reciprocating knives, die cutting, laser cutting, water jetcutting, air jet cutting and the like.

The curled decorative grass 72 assimilating Spanish moss produced bycutting the slit web of curled paper or polymeric film 98 can then beconveyed to a storage area (not shown) which may be in the form of asuitable bin, or the curled decorative grass 72 assimilating Spanishmoss may be conveyed to a packaging machine, or the curled decorativegrass 72 assimilating Spanish moss may be conveyed to a baling machinefor baling prior to storage. As other alternatives, the curleddecorative grass 72 assimilating Spanish moss may be placed into boxesor cartons, subjected to further processing immediately or held forsubsequent processing.

FIG. 6 is a pictorial representation of the curled decorative grasses12, 42 and 72 assimilating Spanish moss prepared in accordance with thesystems 10, 40 and 70 hereinbefore described with reference to FIGS. 1,2 and 5.

Changes may be made in the embodiments of the invention describedherein, or in parts or elements of the embodiments described herein, orin the steps or sequence of steps of the methods described herein,without departing from the spirit and/or scope of the invention asdefined in the following claims.

1. A method for forming a decorative grass simulating Spanish moss,comprising the steps of: providing a laminated sheet of material havinga preset curl therein, the laminated sheet of material having a grayishgreen color substantially corresponding to the color of Spanish moss;and cutting at least a portion of the sheet of laminated material havinga preset curl therein to form a decorative curled grass, simulatingSpanish moss in appearance.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thelaminated sheet of material is a thickness in a range from about 0.1 milto about 10 mils.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the laminated sheetof material is a polymeric film.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein thelaminated sheet of material is formed from a first web of polymeric filmand a second web of paper.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the firstweb is laminated to the second web with a bonding material tinted tosimulate the grayish green color of Spanish moss.